[Jacob-list] Primitive?

[Jacobflock at aol.com]

The term "primitive" referring to sheep can have a variety of  meanings 
depending on one's orientation, e.g., a divergence from a  commercial standard 
or a divergence from a breed standard or a breed that  is relatively 
unimproved.  When "primitive" is used to describe the Jacob  breed the term might 
be better applied, not to a particular sheep but to a  breed's performance.  
My frame of referemce  for this term has always  been "Guide to the 
Primitive Breeds of Sheep and their crosses on Exhibition at  the Royal Agricultural 
Society's Show, Bristol, 1913 with notes on the  Management of Park Sheep 
in England and the Possible Advantages of Crossing Them  with Improved 
Breeds" by John Elwes.  (The book is only a little  longer than the title)
 
He describes his dozen years of breeding some of the original breeds  
(primitive breeds) still surviving in England in the early 1900's: Old  Horned 
Wiltshire, Norfolk, Shetland, Manx, Soay, Hebridian, and "Spanish" or  Piebald 
Sheep, Fat Rumped sheep, Welsh Sheep, Black-Faced Highland, Siberian and  
Orkney.  The name Jacob given by Earl Fitzwilliam to the Spanish Sheep  fifty 
years earlier still hasn't caught on and won't until fifty years after  
this work by Elwes..  
 
Elwes describes these primitive, unimproved, breeds as having certain  
common traits: "Firstly, breed capable of enduring extremes of wet, cold and  
heat ... Secondly, they must be able to winter on grass alone without 
suffering  from lameness.... Thirdly, to produce and suckle their lambs without the 
shelter  of a ewe pen and without the assistance of a shepherd... Fourthly, 
to get a fat  lamb in July or August without any more artificial food than 
is necessary to  prevent the ewes from scouring ... or if lambs are kept over 
winter to make a  small carcass of high-class mutton, not exceeding 40-50 
pounds dead weight at  18-20 months old off the grass. Fifthly, to produce as 
far as possible a flleece  of fine soft wool ..."  Elwes will keep his 
sheep in park with his deer,  observing the sheep's slower pace to maturity, all 
requiring little  management.
 
If one jumps ahead to the founding of the Jacob Sheep Society, the  
conservation of the breed takes a course based on "commercialization" of the  
breed, voices to conserve the primitive type were not widely heeded. After a  
relatively few years the Jacob is standardized and the typical Jacob is 10-20%  
heavier.  Some of these improved types might be represented by the Jacobs  
Ladder line as Todd's purpose was to import good stock to commercialize the  
Jacob in the US. (The Importing Woes Were Worth It by Todd Hescock).    
Some might argue the primitive type might be represented by Tony Turner's flock 
 which preceded Hescock's flock by several years.  A comparison of the  
appearance of these two types adds some but not compelling evidence of the  
difference between primitive and improved.  However, primitive, as first  used 
in reference to Jacobs, really goes to performance and no evidence,  other 
than Todd's article, has indicated a size or performance  difference.
 
Fred Horak 
 
----- Original Message ----- 
From:  _Laura C Frazier_ (mailto:farmgirlarts at triad.rr.com)  
To: _jacob-list at jacobsheep.com_ (mailto:jacob-list at jacobsheep.com)  
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 9:41  PM
Subject: [Jacob-list] Primitive?


I'd like to have some clarification about the  characteristics/traits of 
the "primitive" Jacob sheep. I've heard/read of some  individuals being 
referred to as "primitive", including my ram, and I'd just  like to better 
understand this. Less black? Finer bones? Smaller in  stature?   


Thanks!
Laura
 
 

Laura C Frazier
FarmGirl Arts
(336) 971-3834
Kernersville, NC
_http://home.rr.com/farmgirlarts_ (http://home.rr.com/farmgirlarts) 





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